CAO Gold Label

John Petryshyn says:

"Enjoyable"

Giuseppe Pignatiello says:

"Great sampler with travel humidor"

CAO Gold line is the mildest of the CAO catalog of highly-rated cigars. The wrapper is Ecuadorian Connecticut seed tobacco, the binder from Ecuador and filler from Nicaragua. A pleasure to smoke, these cigars are flawlessly constructed and deliver smooth vanilla, cream and nutmeg flavors. The CAO Gold has been rated 90 (Outstanding) by Cigar Aficionado.

Cigar Origin

Nicaragua

Most cigars are manufactured in the Caribbean and Central America.

Strength

Mild

Wrapper Color

Natural

Cigar wrapper color varies from green (Double Claro or Candela) to black (Maduro or Oscuro) with a full range of browns in between.Natural wrapper, also known as Colorado Claro, is light brown in color.

Wrapper

Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade

The wrapper is the last tobacco leaf to be rolled on the cigar, so it is the one the smoker will see.Ecuador is the perfect place to grow wrappers, because it is located on the Equator! And it has rich soils too. The weather conditions, with a nearly permanent cloudy sky, provide a natural shade, protecting the wrapper plants from sunshine and allowing the tobacco to grow thin and light. This climate allows tobacco growers to grow Connecticut-seed wrapper in the shade without shade cloths, resulting in more economical wrapper.

Binder

Nicaragua

The binder is a full tobacco leaf that is used to roll the cigar, binding the filler tobaccos together.

Filler

Nicaragua

Filler is the term used to describe the tobacco inside a cigar or the "guts" of the cigar.

Rolled by

Handmade

Handmade cigars are completely made by hand from start to finish.

Manufacturer

General Cigars/ST Group

General Cigar Company manufactures premium cigars in several factories located in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Founded by Edgar Cullman, Sr. in 1960, the company experienced incredible success with their Macanudo brand. After a series of acquisitions throughout the years that made General Cigars one of the largest cigar manufacturers in the world, the company merged with Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) in 2010.

The CAO Gold Karat is a short 4" x 38 ring smoke that is mild and mellow. The cigar comes in tins of 5 cigars per tin. They are wrapped in golden Ecuador Connecticut Seed Shade wrappers, with Nicaraguan fillers.

CAO Champions II Sampler celebrates CAO's continued success and updates the collection with its latest ratings winners. Encased in an attractive black leather travel humidor, the cigars within are the best of the original Champions Sampler along with the addition of the highly rated OSA Sol and Lx2. These two cigars allow the Champions Sampler II to showcase the full spectrum of offerings from CAO.

With its subtle hint of sweet spice, the CAO Gold is one of the only mild Nicaraguan cigars on the market. Its medium bodied cousin, the CAO Gold Maduro, uses the same blend with a different wrapper, a Brazilian Maduro tobacco leaf. Both cigars are great for the novice, and moderately priced. CAO Gold was rated 90 (Outstanding) by Cigar Aficionado magazine.

I wish I could give this one more than five stars for appearance because I love the deco style graphics on the box and band. Lifting this one out of the humidor takes me right back to a day when a good cigar was a common fixture in any restaurant or speakeasy. This is a beautifully constructed cigar with a perfect draw and a reasonably good burn. Nice smoke output with smooth overtones of nutmeg and alfalfa with only slight undertones of pepper make this a great cigar for someone who appreciates a rich and flavorful, but low strength cigar. Additionally, if you're like me and don't like a cigar that lingers heavily in your mouth, this cigar is a good choice. It has a nice feel in the mouth that sticks just long enough to enjoy, bun not long enough to scare your girlfriend away. Final word: Buy a box of these and put one in your pocket to enjoy with a glass of bathtub gin and some smooth jazz at your favorite speakeasy.

I purchased this product to share with my employees after work. We enjoyed it so much that we are doing this every month now. Excellent cigars. Product was extremely fresh and the service was excellent.